calling seamstresses- storing fabric?

bookish · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 108 Location: denton, texas

Hey all,

I'm sure there are tons of you like me who have fabric yardage completely invading one (or more) rooms of your house. My problem is that when I try to "store" the fabric, I end up burying the piece I inevitably want to look at the next day and so unearth it all over the room- disaster again. My husband is so patient with my creative havoc, but is there some accessible way I can hide my fabric?

How do you all keep your fabric neatly?

Thanks!
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deborahthecraft · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 364 Location: California

Folded over hangers on a rolling garment rack.

empressCrash · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 78 Location: Pacific NW

I wash all my fabric as soon as I get home from the fabric store - to avoid the did I/didn't I? question.
Then I take those huge freezer bags - fold the fabric and label in the handy dandy space provided the yardage and fabric type and any other pertenent info. Then stand them up in (opaque) file boxes or rubbermaid bins. Makes for easy flipping thru to find what you want. Then when I cut it out I relabel it scraps - some lrg. (or whatever).
If I bought something for a particular outfit then in the bag I also put the pattern, buttons, zippers needed (that way it is much easier to get started). And if I am in a cutting mood - I can cut out several projects and put them back into the bag.
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Every year, back comes spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants - Dorothy Parker

peppermintsquare · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 162 Location: austin

karikazo · Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: N.C.

I have mostly smaller pieces of fabric (fat quarters, half yards), so I store a lot in those shoe storage thingys you get at Target or wherever. Because the compartments are smallish, I don't have to disturb too many other fabrics to get to one on the bottom of a stack. I also have a bookcase with fabric stacked up on its shelves, but the shelves (and stacks) are a little too tall, so I'm phasing them out in favor of the shoe things.

I have to confess I don't fret about the sun fading the edges that are exposed to light. But sometimes I'll drape a gauzy scarf over the front of the shelf if I feel like protecting it.

One art quilter has shelves on one wall of her studio that are actually drawers--cabinets full of wire drawers (wire coated with white plastic or enamel, like those little bathroom carts & shelves), and she has everything tossed in there organized by color and value running across the whole wall, so she can pull out all the drawers for green at once, from palest to darkest, and look at the collection....I'm very jealous of this system.

gnomeG · Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 14 Location: Chicago

I have a set of modular shelves (like each "box" is a shelf, and you stack them to a configuration to your liking) from Ikea (Husar, I think), so I have all my fabrics popped in there (either folded (if big) or rolled (if smaller)) so I can see what I have at a glance. I tend to keep like colors together. I draped a folded bed sheet folded to cover the whole shelf set (which is a little over 6 feet high), so I don't have to look at the fabric craziness if I don't want to. I think this would work with one of the regualr 6-ft laminate bookshelf units from Target/Office Max/etc. too. Best of luck with your creative chaos. I know your pain well! ;)
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Giao Williams
The Walrus & The Carpenter

MagpieLinds · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Ventura Co., CA

At the costume shop I work at, the way we store fabric (and boy, are there copious amounts of it!) is by color and size. However, depending on what you do with the fabric, you could organize by fiber content or knit/woven. Anyway, since you know what you have pretty well, you probably will have specific fabrics in mind, and dominant color (for me) is always best to remember them by.

Anyway, these we label and store in 25-gallon tubs. Clear tubs work the best. If you have lots of crafting stuff, you're well-off in purchasing a big adjustable shelving rack, and buying storage bins as you need them. This way they are always contained, can be covered (if you get shelving with doors), and creates a designated space for your fabric. For example, you could tell your husband "this is my designated fabric space, and I know that if it's getting too full and spilling out, it's time to go through and give away fabric I'm not using, or do something with it".

Hope this helps!
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Lindsay

"I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born." -Chaplin

tishlu · Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 3

I live in a one bedroom, so my "sewing studio" about tackles you once you set foot in my front door. Living Room...what living room? I don't know if this will work for you, but this has helped me. I had a few bookcases and one built-in case...I went to the fabric store and asked them for the cardboard-bolt-things (what are they called?). They gave me a ton for free. So, I wrapped my fabric around them (like at the store) and shelved them according to color. Now, my unused yardage is nice and neat and I can also see it. I know this only works if you have a few yards of fabric you're storing. As for scraps and such...well, let's not go there.

Lulu

lizzymahoney · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 804

Those cardboard-bolt-things are called Cardboard-Bolt-Things. Or sh*t, as in "get rid of that sh*t." Seriously, never heard anyone call them anything other than by size or just cardboard bolt things. Lots of folks who buy large amounts of yardage want the bolt board. (oh yeah, there *is* a name: bolt board.) And plenty of people ask for them, but most just get tossed in the recyclable dumpster.

I am of the anonymous box or bag persuasion. Kinda like, "where the heck did I put that corduroy? When did I get this organdy? I wouldn't have bought red felt if I knew I had all this! and we can't forget: No wonder I thought this was pretty, I have practically a full bolt of it..."

I would go through my anonymous boxes and bags of fabric, but I have anonymous baskets and cases of paint and art supplies and tools on top of them. The esthetic is early garbage dump, makes an intriguing cat mountain, too.

bookish · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 108 Location: denton, texas

Thanks everybody for all the ideas! I went out and bought a clear under-the-bed plastic thing and have planned a trip to Ikea for the bookcase and storage bins to hold zippers, ribbons, little junk that I like... I'm really optimistic that all this will work! We'll see... Right now I have the mountain of fabric going on and this week I stepped on my favorite quilt guide and broke it because it was buried.

If you have more ideas though, keep them coming!

Thanks!
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